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1101–1130 AD – Roger II and the Kingdom of Sicily
The final act of this timeline runs from 1101 to 1130, and it belongs to one man: Roger II of Sicily. His father Roger I died in 1101 with the Norman conquests still divided among cousins — a duchy of Apulia, a principality of Capua, a county of Sicily, rebellious cities like Bari under their own Lombard princes. Over three decades Roger II gathered every piece: Duke of Apulia in 1127, confirmed by the pope in 1128, master of rebellious Bari by 1129. Meanwhile the wider world churned — emperor deposed emperor in Germany, popes fled Rome and died in exile, the Guelf-Ghibelline conflict was born, and earthquakes, famines, and…
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11th Century AD – The Normans Conquer the South
The 11th century AD is the century of the Normans. It opens with the old order intact — a Byzantine Catapan at Bari, Lombard princes in Capua, Benevento, and Salerno, Kalbid emirs in Sicily — and closes with nearly all of it in the hands of a single family of Norman adventurers, the Hautevilles. What began as bands of pilgrims and mercenaries hiring out to Lombard rebels became, step by step, a state: Aversa (1030), Melfi (1041), the crushing of a papal army at Civitate (1053), the papal investiture of Robert Guiscard at Melfi (1059), the fall of Bari in 1071 — ending Byzantine power in Italy after five centuries…
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10th Century AD – The Ottonians and the Emirs
The 10th century AD redrew the balance of power in Italy yet again. On the mainland, the Battle of the Garigliano (915) saw a grand Christian league — papacy, Byzantines, and the squabbling southern states together for once — destroy the Saracen strongholds of central Italy. But in Sicily the conquest completed itself: Rametta, the last Byzantine holdout, fell in 965, and the island passed to the Kalbid emirs, who promptly turned their raids back on Calabria and Apulia. Rome sank into the era of Marozia and Alberic II, when popes were made and unmade by a single family. Then came the Germans: Otto I was crowned Holy Roman Emperor…
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9th Century AD – The Saracens Take Sicily
The 9th century AD belonged to the invaders. In 827 the Aghlabid Saracens of Tunisia landed at Mazara, and over the following decades they took Sicily piece by piece — Palermo in 831, Messina in 842, Enna in 859 after a thirty-year siege, and finally Syracuse in 878, its great cathedral converted into a mosque. On the mainland, a Saracen emirate held Bari for a quarter century, raiders sacked the basilicas of St. Peter and St. Paul outside Rome, and the monastery of Monte Cassino was destroyed. Meanwhile the Carolingian empire of Charlemagne’s heirs divided, reunited, and dissolved into civil war, and the Lombard south splintered — Benevento against Salerno,…
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8th Century AD – Enter Charlemagne and the Franks
The 8th century AD broke the old order in Italy. Byzantine power in the north collapsed when the Lombards conquered the Exarchate of Ravenna for the final time in 751, ending the line of Exarchs altogether. The Emperor’s ban on religious images — iconoclasm — opened a bitter rift between Constantinople and the papacy, and in retaliation the Empire stripped the popes of their income-producing estates in Sicily and southern Italy. Into this vacuum stepped the Franks. Pepin the Short’s donation of 754 created the Papal States, his son Charlemagne destroyed the Lombard kingdom in 774, and on Christmas Day 800 Charlemagne was crowned Roman Emperor in Rome. Meanwhile the…
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7th Century AD – The Rise of Papal Power
In the 7th century AD, Italy remained under strain as Byzantine governors (Exarchs) struggled to hold onto coastal enclaves, while Lombard kings and dukes expanded in the north and south. The papacy continued to grow in influence, with popes contending against both imperial intervention from Constantinople and the shifting power blocs within Italy. New dioceses, such as those in Cosenza, Otranto, and Rossano, appeared alongside ecclesiastical structures like Naples’s Church of Santa Restituta, built on the ruins of a pagan temple. This dynamic century saw ongoing Lombard-Byzantine treaties, raids from Saracen fleets, political upheavals in Ravenna, and further religious controversies (like Monothelitism), all reshaping Italy’s religious and political landscape. Full Chronological…
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6th Century AD – Into the Byzantine
Throughout the 6th century AD, the Italian Peninsula was a battleground where Byzantine ambitions under Emperor Justinian collided with the Ostrogothic Kingdom. Famous generals like Belisarius and Narses reconquered swaths of territory, bringing temporary renewal of Roman (Byzantine) authority. Yet devastation—through siege, plague, famine, and new invasions by Lombards—persistently reshaped Italy’s political and social structures. Meanwhile, the role of the papacy grew in strength as popes like Gregory the Great took on civic leadership, organizing defenses against Lombard forces and extending the Church’s reach. Monasticism thrived under figures like St. Benedict, and new dioceses emerged in places such as Amalfi, Salerno, and Taranto—signifying the profound transformation of southern and central Italy…
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5th Century AD – Barbarians at the Gates of Rome
The 5th century AD was a time of cascading upheaval in the Western Roman Empire as waves of barbarian invasions, factional power struggles, and rapid shifts in authority swept across Italy. The capital was relocated to Ravenna for greater protection; Rome faced multiple sacks—most dramatically at the hands of Alaric’s Visigoths and later the Vandals. Meanwhile, ecclesiastical life evolved under successive popes who reinforced the primacy of the Roman Church. Amid these disruptions, traditional Roman life ebbed. The final abdication of Romulus Augustus in 476 typically marks the Western Empire’s end, though vestiges of Roman governance lingered in Italy under new barbarian rulers. Dioceses Established (5th Century) 401 AD 402 AD 404 AD 408 AD…
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4th Century AD – Christianity and Rome Splits in two
The 4th century AD brought sweeping transformations across the Roman Empire—politically, socially, and religiously. Emperors from Diocletian to Theodosius enacted far-reaching reforms, from edicts fixing prices and binding workers to their trades to decisive support (or opposition) of emerging Christian authority. Persecution of Christians climaxed under Diocletian but soon gave way to imperial endorsement by Constantine, culminating in Christianity becoming the official state religion under Theodosius. Meanwhile, shifting borders, barbarian incursions, and natural disasters such as earthquakes and eruptions buffeted Italy’s landscape. By century’s end, the Empire was permanently split between East and West, its pagan temples shuttered, and the age-old Olympic Games were abolished—marking the dawn of a new era.…
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3rd Century AD – Winds of Change in Rome
The 3rd century AD was a time of tremendous upheaval for Rome. The Severan dynasty gave way to the instability of the so-called “barracks emperors,” while external invasions (Goths, Franks, Alamanni) strained the empire’s borders and a series of plagues ravaged its populace. Diocletian’s rise near century’s end introduced the Tetrarchy, an attempt at structured governance to halt civil wars and ease succession. Meanwhile, Christianity quietly gained adherents, as evidenced by new dioceses—including Manfredonia, Nocera de’ Pagani, and Sora—even though emperors oscillated between persecuting believers or granting them tolerance. Despite the era’s turmoil, the empire adapted through administrative reforms, defensive fortifications (like the Aurelian Walls), and constant efforts to stabilize a…